Can we give it up for this version? My goodness

About as gorgeous and exactly-perfect as you can believe. The entirety of this one ranks with the very best of ‘71, and that’s no small praise.

A special shout-out here for that absolutely GORGEOUS Bird Song. And that Constanten-laden Dark Star is something else - don't let the smallish running time fool you on both of these tunes - they're quite something to hear.

The entire presentation here totals close to five hours, and every second is worth it (the NRPS set alone is 90 minutes, a beautiful farewell for Jerry).

Get the 24k Miller board.

Still can't understand why this one didn't get on "Ladies and Gentlemen." Oh well.

1st Set: Every song is nicely played but the only stand-out is BIRDSONG and it will make you cry if you listen closely. Bobby calls El Paso their “most requested song”. We get an electric Ripple which is worth the price of admission. MABM has matured a lot over this spring run and is in full bloom here. IM A KING BEE is so down and dirty I don’t see how anyone in that building could ever get clean again. BERTHA absolutely rips and is now fulfilling the promise when the song debuted. There’s a weird ending but the song is great.

2nd Set: Lots of tuning. Then... MORNING DEW! It’s a scorcher! It is large and loud and soft and numbing. What a way to enter the set. HARD TO HANDLE is really different tonight. Jerry seems to want to noodle the jam away and can’t seem to decide what he wants to do but they do a kind of build-up then end the song. Well worth the listen though for uniqueness. TOO is sparkling. They take it to really sweet places in a short amount of time. The segue into WHARFRAT is quick, maybe too quick. They’ve been nailing this song all Spring and this is no exception. Tom Constanten joins them for a crispy DARK STAR that is short but hits all the right spots. I almost hear a beautiful jam for a minute. As if that wasn’t enough they go right into SAINT STEPHEN which is almost played perfectly. Coming out of the ladyfinger part Bobby sings the wrong verse so Jerry corrects him then they both flub the next line. Hilarity ensues. They leave us with a rollicking NFA>GDTRFB>NFA. A great time was had by all.

Notes: The Other One appears on Skull and Roses
Birdsong, MAMU, Cumberland Blues, Loser, Ain’t It Crazy, El Paso, King Bee, Me and Bobby McGee, Dark Star, St. Stephen, NFA, GDTRFB, NFA, and Wharfrat appear on “Ladies and Gentlemen”.
Tom Constanten sits in on Dark Star, Saint Stephen, NFA, GDTRFB

I remember being in college, loved Led Z, Jimmi, stones, the who....but zep was gone, and the who was old(although they still rocked.....and I hated the GD....dated a chick in HS that liked em, and i thought she was a freak.....anyway, late one night, about 4 am....smoked up on some good ole skunk(back then that was primo)...had the head phones on and was listening to this bootleg, looking at my equalizer....and Dark Star came on....and I started to get in the groove, things started to change in my brain....everything was transforming, as if I was at this show....and then into St. Stephen.....and I was like...WTF!!! where have these guys been all my life? What is this? "This" was good old american Rock and Roll!!!! This is born in the USA.....our music, not the europeans, but USA.....years later, and I mean years later, I but this disc ladies and gentlemen....and started to listen to it...and was like...wait a minute....this Dark star sounds like....WOW...this is it!!! This show rocks....I run and workout to that Dark Star.....it is amazing....the whole show is amazing....THANK YOU Bobby, Phil, Mickey, Jerry, Donna, Keith, Brent, Pig, and Billy boy.....and everyone who helped brings these boys to life.....Bill Graham.....crank up that old victrola and kick out your rocking shoes cus this is gonna make your head spin!!!!

Robert Christgau wrote that the Dead understood that silence was also a note. Listen to the silence in Morning Dew where Weir plays percussion on his guitar... ksssh. The silence before the 2nd lyric on The Other One, when Garcia loses the last notes of his solo. The silence during St. Stephen when Weir sings the wrong lyric, Garcia corrects him and then they blow the next line altogether. If you ever saw them live, you know they were laughing at each other on stage.

This is the first one I ever had on cassette. The onlything I can say that hasnt been mentions by those before me is an interesting footnote...

I forgot who's book it was written in, but suposedly, TC came in to rescue / replace Pigpen who had been unwillingly dosed. Maybe it started hitting him in H2H, and became too much for him by the time TC came on.

If you haven't heard the song Dark Star before, you should give it a listen ASAP. It has a very particular mind-melting quality sort've like opening your emotional heart center and receiving love or something like that...

Awesome show, I only had half of it. I love 1971. They were tight. Sounds is awesome and the set list gets better as the show goes on. A+++

A show this great is bound to cost you money in the future. Excellent show! Some of my favorite Dead tunes in this setlist. Excellent sound quality as well. Get this one while you can...

The best part of the really hot shows is when they play the hell out of a song in a way that is just - different - from the way they usually do it. In this case it's the Hard to handle. HTH just plays the band on this. The NRPS set is a great intro to the feel of the whole download.

Not only does this show kick serious bum, but this is the best Hard To Handle ever, as well as probly the best blues jam I ever heard by the dead- so tight, incredible build-up and then they just take it right over the top- give it a listen

this show is .. undescribable. the dark star is epic. even better than from live/dead. the sound is unbelievable. the dark star>st steve>nfa>gdtrfb>nfa is... i dont even know. this is one of the most amazing shows ive ever heard. the dark star alone is definitely worth the download.

I was at this show and to get the feel of the whole show you should DL the New Riders set which opened the show...........aw to be there again is great..... This is the first time I've been to this site, but I see I will need a much larger hard drive now...Thanks

I think this has something for everyone; a terrific Dark Star (so what if it's a shorter one- it's a keeper!)

The Bird Song is sweet, and the first set in general is well played.

The Other one is the same version as the 1971 live (SF) lp. The missing wharf rat was released on the 4 disc "Ladies and Gentlemen..." set from the Fillmore East.

It's fairly easy to patch together a composite complete version of the Other One >Wharf Rat... match the volume and pitch of the different sources, and edit it together....I had to amplify the end of the Other One because of the "fade out" on the lp but I just used "cool edit" and reverse faded it a few different ways to get it to work......

I first got this show about ten years ago on cassette. It has been my favorite show since I first heard it. There is an energy that makes the show unique, even though the set list reads like any combination of other shows of that era. We are lucky that this beauty has been preserved for all of us- the mix is almost perfect. This is the best H2H I have ever heard, might as well say that for the whole second set. I think there's supposed to be a Johnny B. Goode encore, which is missing here. It was a good version, but that song never really meant that much to me anyways. Thanks to my old friend Bill for giving me this tape ten years ago, and thanks to you folks who've put it up here!

If this show doesn't steal your face and then melt it like butter in a microwave, then someone needs to begin CPR on you immediately because rigormortis can't be far away ! I'm serious, this is freakin' cosmic stuff. The show starts off like a runaway freight train and by King Bee and Mornig Dew they leave the Earth's atmosphere altogether. Bill Kreutzmann's frenetic and jaw-dropping polyrhythems propel the band while Garcia and Lesh circle the drumming nucleus in patterns that are constantly evolving in complexity and intricacy. As the good Dr. previously stated, the last part of this show must be experienced to be understood. It's really that good, and the following night is right there with it. Download immediately and smile, smile, smile !!
NAMASTE !!

I think this is the best night of the run. If you can stand to only download 1 night, pick this one. NRPS and Dead are hot, front to back.

Probably my most favorite for the longest time. The Dew is most passionate, funky Hard to Handle, And the sharpest Dark Star ever. If you haven't heard this, you should.
FYI - 2nd half of The Other One and Wharf Rat were supposedly lost in a tape flip on the reel source - there's a long story floating around about how the reel to reel was hidden in a closet and the Dead even used this source for the recent official CD release because the quality was better than what The Dead had in their vault. I have never heard a tape or disc with all of that material, even though we know The Dead or Warner Bros. probably have it.

What happened to the rest of Other One, and where is the Wharf Rat? Otherwise, excellent, excellent, excellent....

a bit of popping going on during the new rider set {the weight} otherwise stellar performance by thoses guyses.....nice "COnnection".....the dead's set......steamrollin' if this was the only recording ever of the dead, i believe most of us could live with it......nasty King BEE.......

great show ..i forget which one i downloaded ..same date ..but amazing show and sound quality...so either this one or the other ..sorrry

Both of these last nights at the Fillmore are stellar shows. This one is my personal favorite, much more on the trippy side. As on 4/29,we get great versions of HT Handle, Bird Song, Cumberland
and Morning Dew. Plus a hot King Bee thrown in the mix. The Other One is the version used on "Skullfuck" GD 1971, by the way. The rhythms build in intensity until it sounds like a locomotive is about to crash thru your wall. Bill really shines on this version.And the beautiful,transcendent Dark Star is one of my all time favs, even tho it's a bit short. Tom C. sits in on keyboard. The St. Stephen and ending must be experienced to be understood. A powerful performance. And they must have gone to bed early, cause they come back tomorrow and do it again! A must have for your Classic Dead collection.
Dr. Flashback ;-)